Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters!

A/N: This story has to do with Sara and her brother's relationship, just thought I'd explore it a little bit. But of course, this is only my interpretation. I wrote this because I really wanted to write what I thought her brother may have been like, and since I didn't go back that early into Sara's life in The Life & Times of Sara Sidle, I decided to post this. I hope you enjoy it :)

"Sara!" he called, running around the tree in the backyard looking around for his sister, throwing a long strand of brown hair out of his dark brown eyes. "Sara, where'd you go?" He looked around the corner of the house when he heard crying. The small form of his little sister was behind the house shaking back and forth with tears running down her cheeks as both of her tiny hands were held over her knee cap, her small dress pulled up over the cut.

"D-D-Daniel!" she cried, looking up at him with puffy eyes. "I-I-I fell!"

Daniel set his toy down on the ground and ran over to her, kneeling down beside her. "Hang on, let me see," he told her, moving her hands away from the cut on her knee. He smiled. "Don't worry, it's not that bad," he told her. "I'll be right back," he said, getting up and running off.

His little sister watched him run off, her bottom lip trembling as she held her knee. He came back with a box of bandaids and kneeled back down in front of her. "Look, Mom got the bandaids you like," he said with a smile, holding the box up. The bandaids were covered in little designs featuring different cartoon characters, the cartoon characters Sara knew from watching TV with Daniel on Saturday mornings. This got him a small smile from his little sister as he peeled the backs off of one of the bandaids and put it on her knee after wiping the dirt off.

"There," he said with a smile, putting a hand over her knee. He smiled and wiped the tears away from her face with his fingers. "Come on now, don't cry, it's okay," he told her. "Come on- let's go inside and eat some of the cookies Mom made," he told her, getting to his feet and helping his sister up. She nodded slowly and clung to his arm, squeezing it tightly as they walked inside. He led her inside and they walked through the back door, walking into the kitchen.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Sara asked quietly.

"I don't know," Daniel said. "Mom said he was going to be late tonight.."

"Daddy works really hard," Sara said with a smile.

Daniel smiled back at her. "I know he does," he told her. He reached under her neck and tickled her. She let out a squeaky giggle. "And so do you. Mom told me you're getting the best grades in your class at school," he said with a smile.

Sara giggled, looking up at her brother. "Yup!" she said. "My teacher gave me a sticker, too!"

"That's really cool!" he told her with a big smile. He let go of her hand for a minute. "Hang on, I'm going to get the cookies," he whispered. Sara nodded as he reached up onto the counter which she couldn't quite reach yet and pulled two cookies off of a cookie sheet, handing her one. "Careful, it's hot," he told her.

Sara nodded and watched as her brother blew on his cookie. She did the same, and watched as he took a big bite. She mimicked him and took just as big a bite, but got strangled.

"Sara!" Daniel said, running over to her and patting her on the back. She coughed softly as he patted her on the back and then looked up at him. "There. Next time don't take such big bites," he told her with a smile.

"But you did," she said pouting.

Daniel laughed. "But that's because I'm bigger than you. You have a tiny mouth!" he told her. "Come on, let's go play," he told her, grabbing her hand again and leading her out of the kitchen and into the hallway. They poked their heads in the living room and saw their mother sitting on a recliner, holding a bottle in her hand. She was slumped back in the chair, all but laying on it and her body racked with quiet sobs.

"Come on," Daniel told her, not wanting his little sister to see her mother crying. He walked down the hallway with her and led her to her room and closed the door.

"Why is Mommy crying?" Sara asked with a frown.

"It's nothing Sara," Daniel said. "Don't worry about it." He noticed his baby sister looking up at him with tear-stained eyes. "Aw, come here," he told her, holding his arms out to her. She ran to him and buried herself in a hug. "Shh...it's okay, Mom's just sad is all.."

"Why?" Sara asked.

"Because she misses Dad," he told her.

"I miss Daddy too," she said, looking up at him.

"I do too.." Daniel said. He looked down at the floor. "We all do," he told her.

"Then why is he gone all the time?" Sara asked, looking up at him. "Doesn't he love us?" she whispered. "Was I being a bad girl? Is that why he left? Did he think I wasn't being good? Mommy said I was being a good girl..my teacher always says I'm being good.."

"It's not that, Sara," Daniel whispered. "I don't know what it is. But you know Dad loves us. He loves you, me, and Mom." Sara just nodded slowly, squeezing him tightly in a hug. Daniel smiled. "You look sleepy," he told her. "Why don't you take a nap and when you wake up Daddy might be here," he whispered.

Sara nodded slowly. "I want to see Daddy."

"I know you do. Just take a small nap and Daddy might be here when you wake up," he said with a smile.

"Will you take the nap with me?" she asked.

He smiled. "If you want me to."

She nodded and pulled him onto her bed. He layed down first and she layed down against him, closing her eyes. "Do you have Mr. Snucckums?" Daniel asked, referring to her teddy bear. She nodded slowly, holding the teddy bear up tightly against her chest. "Good," he whispered. "Close your eyes and take a nap and Daddy might be here when you wake up."

"When we wake up," she whispered.

He smiled. "When we wake up," he repeated, laying his head down on the pillow and closing his eyes.

Little Sara and Daniel fell asleep in hopes of seeing their Daddy walk through the door when they woke up. Both of them weren't exactly sure why their Daddy wasn't coming home these past nights. Their mother just sat by the front door day after day, occasionally moving and fixing something to eat for her and the kids. When she finished making a meal, she walked back over to the chair in front of the door and collapsed, grabbing the bottle with the unknown substance inside of it that seemed to seperate their mother from the rest of the world.

Daniel had seen his mother and father arguing before he left three nights ago. They yelled at each other in their bedroom, Daniel had cracked his head inside to see what was going on. His mother said something before the sound of the back of his hand connecting with her cheek filled the room. He stormed out of the room and walked into the living room, throwing the front door open and slamming it shut behind him. Daniel watched as his mother collapsed on the bed in their room crying.

Daniel and Sara both woke up about three hours later after their little nap to the sound of the front door being thrown open. Sara rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she got up out of her bed, holding tightly onto Mr. Snucckums. Daniel got to his feet and grabbed his little sister's hand, leading her to the door of her room and they slowly walked down the doorway, poking their heads around the wall of the living room to see what was going on.

In walked their father. He looked absolutely furious. The two children had never seen their father so angry before and they watched as he stormed in through the door and looked down at his wife. Sara wrinkled her nose as a sour smell- a smell she knew- filled her nostrils. Her father reeked of it.

"Laura! Get up!" he yelled. The two watched as their mother slowly got to her feet, swaying a bit as she tried to sit up straight.

"It's about time you got home," she hissed. "Where the hell were you?"

"None of your damn business," he said. "I see you've been keeping up with the house," he said, looking around the house at the newspapers on the floor and the discarded liquor bottles lying about.

"I would keep up with it if my charming husband came home every once and a while. Instead you go out and get fired. Again. This makes the third time, John! What'd they fire you for this time, John? Don't tell me you came to work drunk, too!"

"Shut up," he yelled, walking into the kitchen.

"We're out of beer!" she yelled.

"Because you drank it all!" he shouted, looking back over at her.

Sara, trembling slightly, walked out from her and her brother's safe hiding place and walked up to her father. Holding Mr. Snucckums in her arms, she looked up at him. "D-Daddy?" she asked.

"What the hell do you want?" he yelled, looking down at her.

Her bottom lip started trembling and the tears formed in her eyes. Daniel could tell she was about to cry.

"What the hell are you crying for? " he yelled.

Sara just stared at him, the tears running down her cheeks as small whimpers started to escape her lips.

"Get out of here, you little bitch!" he yelled, his large fingers wrapping around her tiny arms and shoving her backwards. She let out a small scream as she hit the floor, looking up at him with tear-stained eyes. Daniel ran to her side, kneeling down beside her and helping her up. Her entire body was shaking violently as she watched her father glare down at them.

"Dad!" Daniel yelled. "You hurt Sara!"

"I'm going to whip your ass if you don't get out of my sight right now!" he yelled.

Daniel, out of fear of his father's wrath, slowly moved back down the hall with his little sister. She was crying hard as he led her to her room and quickly closed the door.

"Daddy hurt me," she whispered, the tears running down her cheeks.

"Sara, he didn't mean it," Daniel whispered.

"Then why would he hurt me?" Sara asked. "I was a bad girl, wasn't I?"

"No, Sara," Daniel whispered. "You were a good girl, you've always been a good girl. Daddy's just...he's not himself, Sara."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Daniel thought for a minute. "You know when you get angry?"

Sara nodded. "Yes.."

"Daddy's angry, but...you see...that stuff in the brown bottles he and Mom drink?" Sara nodded. "That's bad, Sara...it turns you into someone you're not...it's what's making Dad so angry.."

"But he hurt me," she whispered, looking up at him.

"I know Sara," Daniel whispered. "He didn't mean it, though...he loves you. You're a very good girl," he told her. He took her into a gentle embrace, Mr. Snucckums and all, and wiped the tears away from her face once again. "Thata girl," he said with a smile. Sara had quickly fallen asleep. Daniel was glad that their father had left the house so that his little sister could get some sleep. He slowly lifted her onto her bed and draped a blanket over her. He didn't want to admit to his little sister that he had seen their father hit their mother from time-to-time.

"Goodnight Sara," Daniel whispered, walking out of the room to his bedroom. He walked through the doorway and collapsed on his twin-bed, sighing deeply as he wrapped the blankets around him and closed his eyes.